The English words vein and vain may be homophones, but they come from completely different etymological roots. Vein traveled into English via Old French veine, which in turn came from Latin vena, meaning “blood vessel.” Vain, meaning “conceited,” also found its way into English via Old French, but comes from the Latin vanus meaning “empty,” or “void.” The name Vanity Fair originally appeared in John Bunyan’s 1676 book Pilgrim’s Progress (Bookshop|Amazon), and referred to a place of inhabitants preoccupied with earthly pleasures. This is part of a complete episode.
According to Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English (Bookshop|Amazon) by Ben Yagoda, the word smarmy, meaning “unctuous” or “ingratiating,” may come from a 19th-century magazine contest, in which readers sent in...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...
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